No Vacation
by Usearki
Summary: Kaiba and Jou have been together for six months and want to spend some quality time alone together. Kaiba books them a week long stay at a posh hotel, but when he gets called away to the local Kaiba Corp office, everything goes wrong for Jou...
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** I do not own YuGiOh!. That pleasure belongs to Kazuki Takahashi. This is solely written for fun and not for profit.

xo xo xo xo xo xo xo

"Wow Seto, this place is amazing," Katsuya Jonouchi exclaimed as he threw himself back onto the large bed in the luxury penthouse suite that his boyfriend, Seto Kaiba, had booked for a weeks vacation just for the two of them. Their relationship so far had been kept under wraps and this was to be a chance for them to spend some quality time alone together without the prospect of being disturbed.

"I'm glad you like it," Seto said with a smirk. No one had been more surprised than Seto himself when Jonouchi had cornered him alone one day and confessed. Well, maybe Jonouchi had been just as surprised when Seto hadn't punched his lights out, but had accepted that confession and had instantly asked him out instead. They'd been together for close on six months now and although they'd kept up the impression of disliking each other in front of Jou's friends and in public, neither of them regretted spending what time they could together.

However, this holiday was also to facilitate something that they had both been wanting to do for a while, that being to take their intimacy to the next level. Seto looked at Jou lying sprawled on the bed with undisguised hunger, knowing that he needed to taste the other, but just as he was about to climb onto the bed and embrace Jonouchi, his personal phone rang.

He gave Jou an apologetic look as he reached for his phone. "Kaiba," he snapped irritably.

Jou leaned up to look at Seto with some frustration and concern. He was pretty sure that he knew exactly what was coming next and he mentally resigned himself to it as Seto rang off with a sigh.

"Katsuya, I'm sorry..." he began, knowing it wouldn't be enough.

Jou gave him a watery smile. "It's OK Seto, I understand," he said, unable to stop the bitter disappointment from showing both in his tone and on his face.

"I don't even know how they knew I was here," Seto said as he frustratedly ran a hand through his hair, "but a situation has arisen at the local Kaiba Corporation branch office and I need to go and sort it out."

"Should I come with you?" Jou asked.

"No, you'll only get bored," Seto sighed, then gave Jou a mischievous look, "and you'll just distract me." He leaned over to kiss Jou gently, showing his regret. "I'll be as quick as I can and I promise that when I'm done I will turn off my phone so that no one else can disturb us."

Jou sighed, "OK Seto," he said, lying back in as sensual a manner as he could manage, "I'll be waiting."

"Tease," Seto said fondly.

"Hey, I'm just giving you some motivation to finish what you need to do and get back to me," Jou said innocently. He gasped as he found himself tackled and kissed passionately, then he groaned loudly as Seto pulled away,

"I'll be back soon," Seto said as he got up from the bed. "In the meantime, you can order whatever you like from room service."

"OK Seto," Jou said with a tired grin, "See you in a while." Jou watched as Seto left the room and the door closed behind him before he turned over and threw a pillow against the wall in frustration. He should have known that something like this would happen. They hadn't even been here for five minutes before Seto had been called in to deal with some crisis to do with Kaiba Corporation. He scowled, vowing to break Seto's phone if the CEO did not switch it off when he came back.

Jou got up from the bed. First things first, he decided to explore the rooms, Seto having been called away before he could get the grand tour. He was quite impressed by the expansive and obviously very expensive suite of rooms. There was everything a high-flying business man could need right here, from an office and reception room to a large dining room and three sumptuous bedrooms, the largest of which was currently his and Seto's. Jou couldn't help but think it was all a bit over extravagant and he would have been happy with something much more modest, but Seto seemed to be happy enough so he wasn't about to complain.

The rumbling in his stomach reminded him that it had been several hours since he'd last eaten, so, taking Seto at his word, he called room service, arranging for a large meal and several snacks to be delivered to the suite.

While Jou waited for the food to arrive, he sat down on the comfortable sofa, staring upwards at the ceiling as he thought about what he wanted from Seto when he finally got back - and what Seto would want from him. He'd be lying if said that he wasn't just a bit apprehensive, but overall he was looking forward to taking the next step in their relationship. He let his imagination run wild and he was just recalling the first time that Seto had given him a hand job, the brunet breathing hotly in his ear as he stimulated Jou's cock, when he was forcibly brought back to himself with a jolt as there was a deferential knock on the door.

"Room Service!"

"Ah, just a moment," Jou called out as he hurriedly untucked his shirt to hide his erection, then he raced over to answer the door once he was sure he was decent. The waiter pushed the laden cart into the dining room, then once he had served everything up to his satisfaction, he looked at Jonouchi expectantly. Jou flushed as he realised that the man was expecting a tip. Knowing that he didn't have anything near what would be an acceptable tip for serving such an expensive suite, he decided that the best thing to do would be to take a leaf from Kaiba's book and brazen it out.

"Thank you, that will be all," he said, clearly dismissing the man.

"Very good, sir," the waiter said, giving Jou a dirty look as he left the room. Jou sagged as the door closed behind the hotel employee. He hoped that Seto would come back soon so that he wouldn't have to go through something embarrassing like that again.

He looked over at the food that the man had brought in, thanking goodness that he had ordered more than he could reasonably eat in one sitting. He'd be able to put something aside for later on in the event that Kaiba ended up taking longer than he expected at the Kaiba Corp offices. Jou wasn't stupid and he held no illusions over the fact that Kaiba would probably be gone for several hours yet.

He spent the rest of the afternoon taking advantage of the many channels provided on the large wall mounted television, flipping boredly from show to show and sighing every time he looked at the clock. Eventually, he had to leave the room for a few minutes to use the bathroom, but when he came back he was surprised and dismayed to find that housekeeping had been in and cleared everything that he'd put aside away – without even asking if it were OK to do so. He dashed out of the door to see if he could catch the maid, only to find that whoever had been in the suite was long gone. He heard a click behind him as the door closed and he began to swear copiously as he realised that he'd just locked himself out, the key card to open the suite sitting on the table inside the door where he had thrown it.

He then took stock of what he had on him, which amounted to a small amount of change in one trouser pocket and his mobile phone in the other, which wasn't a lot really. He was already becoming mightily pissed off with this so-called vacation so he decided that the best course of action would be to go down to the local Kaiba Corporation offices and drag Seto back with him if he had to. With his mind now made up, he set out to fetch his errant boyfriend.

He'd had to ask for directions a couple of times, but half an hour after leaving the hotel, Jou finally managed to locate the local branch office of Kaiba Corporation, cursing the fact that Seto had talked him into staying behind. Now that he was here, he confidently opened the doors and made to walk straight towards the lift.

"Hey, where are you going?" The receptionist challenged him from across the lobby. She was a woman in her late twenties wearing far too much makeup and she looked like she had a real attitude problem.

"I'm heading up 'cos I want to see Kaiba," Jou said with no hesitation.

"Yeah, well, I want a pony and we don't always get what we want, do we?"

Jou was taken aback by her attitude for a moment, but then he realised that although the staff at Kaiba Corp back home in Domino may be used to him turning up at odd times and just walking in, the staff here would not be. "Look, Kaiba will be annoyed if you don't let me go on up."

"Yeah, right," she drawled sarcastically. "Kaiba gave strict instructions that he was not to be disturbed by anyone and I'm not going against that. It's more than my job's worth."

Jou was getting annoyed now. "Kaiba will likely have your job if he finds out that you treat people that walk in from the street so badly. After all, you have no idea who I could be," he informed her cryptically, not wanting to say _too_ much as he was unsure as to how discreet the employees here were. Back at Kaiba Corporation in Domino, the staff knew better than to question who Kaiba allowed to come and go and they also knew better than to say anything outside of work, but this woman gave Jou the impression that she could be quite a gossip, so he really did feel that he had to be cautious.

He wasn't surprised though, when her face went thunderous and she gestured to the security guard. "You will leave now," she said with finality. "Kaiba does not need fanboys disturbing his precious time."

"If his time is so damned precious, how in hell did he end up at work when he's supposed to be on vacation?" Jou pointed out, then he flinched as the security guard, a mountain of a man, grabbed his arm and escorted him forcibly out before the receptionist could say anything in return. Jou didn't argue with the man, knowing that he would not get anywhere if he did and that such a small 'security breach' like this would not be reported to Kaiba personally. Once he was outside and safely across the street, he pulled out his phone and dialled Seto's personal number, only to curse as it went straight to voice mail. He looked at the handset with disgust, then called the number that was prominently displayed on the front of the Kaiba Corporation building. He wasn't surprised when the receptionist picked up the phone at the front desk and he could see her openly smirking at him as she did so.

"Look, you are not getting through to Kaiba this way either," she said smugly.

"Yeah, I realise that," Jou said, "But could you please ask Seto to turn on his mobile phone?"

"You have his personal number? And how did you know that he was here on vacation?" The receptionist was obviously shocked, but any hope that Jou may be getting through to her and that she would realise her mistake was to be crushed by her next words. "You're a stalker!" she gasped. "Security!" Jou could see her pointing him out to the security guard so he wasted no time in cutting the call off and leaving, cursing as he went.

Once he was well away from the Kaiba Corporation building, he figured that he may as well leave Seto a voice mail message, knowing that he would get it when he turned his phone back on, whenever that might be. However, he was to start cursing again as, just as the answer phone message began to play, his handset gave three beeps and died, the battery spent. Sighing, he placed the phone back in his pocket, then rooted around in the other, managing to come up with enough change to buy a burger and a coffee at a café he was passing. Once he'd eaten and thought about what he should do next, he decided to head back to the hotel, hoping to be able to get a start on a good nights sleep as he waited for Seto to return. Unfortunately, even this was not going to go his way, especially as he had locked his key card in the room and there had been a staff changeover while he had been out. He crossed to the reception desk to speak with the desk manager, only to be resolutely ignored by the man.

Eventually his patience ran out. "Excuse me," he said loudly, making the man look at him, "I've locked myself out of my room."

"Really?" the man looked down his nose at Jou, openly sneering at his 'low class' appearance. "I'm afraid you must be mistaken. We don't serve clientèle of your nature here."

"I'm not kidding. I'm staying in the penthouse suite with..."

"Preposterous!" the desk manager interrupted, looking as though he were about to have an aneurysm. "Those rooms are being used by Seto Kaiba himself. There is no way that someone like you could even afford to sleep in a mere broom cupboard in this hotel. Security! Please escort this... gentleman... outside."

"Hey, hang on a minute, I'm not lying about this," Jou shouted as he was shepherded away by two men, but it was no use. He found himself deposited unceremoniously onto the pavement outside with a flea in his ear about staying away.

Well, he thought to himself, this vacation officially sucked. Here he was, on the streets far away from home with no money and a dead phone in his pocket. Sighing deeply he walked over to a nearby bench that gave a full view of the hotel. The only thing he could do now was wait for Seto to come back. He really hoped that it wouldn't take very long...

xo xo xo xo xo xo xo

As Jou was settling down to wait, Seto Kaiba sat down heavily on the couch in his office, cursing the incompetence of his employees. Things had taken a lot longer than he'd anticipated to sort out and he'd had to metaphorically knock several heads together to get things running anywhere near to his satisfaction.

He let out an expansive yawn as everything finally caught up with him. He'd had to work very late at Kaiba Corporation in Domino the previous night, making everything ready so that he could actually go on this vacation, then he'd driven them both all the way here. After that, instead of being able to rest and spend time with Jou, he'd had to spend the best part of the day clearing up the mess that the local management had made.

He leaned his head back, intending to just close his eyes for a moment before leaving the office and heading back to Jou, but his exhaustion overcame him in a rush and he fell into a deep slumber, not to wake until the next morning when the secretary would come in for the day.

xo xo xo xo xo xo xo

**A/N** - Look! It isn't a crossover. LOL. So what do you think so far? Please let me know.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:** I do not own YuGiOh!. That pleasure belongs to Kazuki Takahashi. This is solely written for fun and not for profit.

Also, thank you to everyone who reviewed/favourited/alerted. I appreciate it. ^_^

xo xo xo xo xo xo xo

"Hey kid," A woman's voice brought Jonouchi out of his light doze and back to consciousness. He shivered slightly in the chill early morning air. "You with me kid?"

Jou sat up slowly, yawning and stretching out the kinks and pains that he'd acquired from staying on a hard bench outside overnight. "Yeah, I'm with you. I guess you're moving me on, huh?" he said bitterly, supposing that he was lucky that he hadn't been moved on before now and wondering how Seto could have abandoned him like this.

"No, no, you got it all wrong," the woman said kindly, "I was wondering why you were sleeping out here. You are Jonouchi, right? And I did see you coming in with Mr. Kaiba yesterday didn't I?"

Jou looked at the woman for the first time, noting that she was wearing the Hotel's maid's uniform. "Yeah, I'm Jonouchi," he confirmed, "and you did see me come in with Seto." He couldn't contain a sigh. "Everything has gone wrong since then though." He placed his head in his hands, feeling a depression come over him.

The woman put her hand on his shoulder in sympathy. "My name's Maria and I work at the hotel," she said. "Come with me to the staff room and I'll make you a nice cup of tea. You look like you could use one."

"I don't want to get you into trouble," Jou protested.

"Don't worry about that," Maria said. "Come on."

"OK," Jou said, getting up from the bench stiffly, "Thanks." He didn't have the strength to argue right now and somewhere to warm up and a nice cup of tea sounded like heaven. He followed her around to the back entrance of the Hotel, finding himself ushered into the staff room and a hot cup of tea and several slices of hot buttered toast placed on the table before him.

While Jou quietly sat and availed himself of the tea and toast, Maria bustled around, rearranging the servicing of the rooms to enable her to stay with Jou for the moment. Soon enough she was back with him, taking in the subdued expression on his face as she put her hand on his shoulder once again. "Do you want to talk about it?" She asked.

"I can't really," Jou said, looking away. He desperately wanted to talk to someone, but a stranger, no matter how kind she was being, was definitely not the best choice.

"Did he dump you?" She asked. Jou jumped having not expected to be asked that question and not quite sure what to say. "Don't worry love, I won't say anything," she sought to reassure.

"He hasn't dumped me," Jou said carefully. "At least, I don't think he has."

"So how did you end up sleeping on the bench out front?" She asked, surprised.

Jou quickly recounted the story of what had happened the day before, the need to tell _someone_ what had happened winning out over his caution. He was surprised to find tears running down his cheeks by the end of his recounting, but he supposed that was partly down to being so tired as he'd stayed awake most of the night in the hope that Kaiba would return.

"Oh no, now that won't do," Maria said, passing him a tissue. "I know that old grouchypants is on the front desk again this morning and he won't listen to me if I vouch for you, but would you like to stay here and see if Mr. Kaiba comes back in a bit?" She asked.

Jou dried his eyes as he smiled at Maria's description of the front desk manager, but then slumped, "No, I just want to go home, but... I got no money or anything. All my stuff is up in the room."

"Would you like me to go and get your things for you?" Maria offered kindly.

"No, I couldn't ask you to do that," Jou protested. "Considering how things have gone for me lately, you'd probably end up getting the sack for stealing or something. I couldn't live with that on my conscience. But... if there's a phone I can use, I can probably arrange something."

"Sure, we can do that." Maria said, directing him to the phone in the corner of the room. "Do you want to leave Mr. Kaiba a note? I can get you some paper."

"Could you?" Jou asked gratefully. "Damn, I really owe you one."

"Nonsense," Maria said with a blush. "I'm just doing my good deed for the day. But if you really want to do something for me," she gave him a mischievous look, "your autograph will be fine."

"Eh? What?" Jou said, blinking in shock.

Maria smirked. "I've got a son that's into Duel Monsters," she explained. "He follows all the top duelists and you're his favourite. If I could take him your autograph, that would make his year."

"Well, sure," Jou said, taken slightly aback, but pleased by the request, "No problem."

"You go call your friend," Maria said. "I'll be back soon with some paper." She left the room to carry out her task.

Jou crossed to the phone and dialled Seto's personal number, feeling that he had to at least _try_ to get in contact with him before he did leave, but the device was still set to answer-phone. He couldn't bring himself to leave a message, so he hung up and called Yugi instead. The phone rang a few times and Jou was about to hang up when Yugi finally answered. "Hey Yugi," Jou said.

"Jonouchi?" Yugi was surprised. "I wasn't expecting to hear from you this week. Is everything OK?"

"Well, not really Yug'" Jou said. "I need a bit of help."

"What do you need?" Yugi said, always ready to help out a friend.

"I need a train ticket from Solitaire back to Domino," Jou said. "I promise that I'll pay you back..."

"I know you will Jou," Yugi said. "But what are you doing all the way out there? I thought you were going to visit your sister this week."

"I..." Jou began, then he stopped and sighed, knowing that he would have to explain things to Yugi. "I'm sorry, I can't really discuss it now, but I promise that I'll explain everything when I get back." He paused a moment. "Err... how am I going to pick up the ticket at the station though? I don't have anything on me to prove who I am..."

"Don't worry Jou," Yugi said in his ever-optimistic way, "I'll sort something out. Do you have a number I can call you back on?"

Jou rattled off the number that was printed on the top of the phone. "Thanks Yug' You're a real pal."

"That's OK Jou. What are friends for?" Yugi said. "Right, I'll call you back shortly."

"Bye Yug'" Jou said, hanging up and turning round to find Maria stood right behind him.

"I've got the paper and an envelope for you, Jonouchi," she said with a smile. "Your friend able to help?"

"Yeah, thanks Maria. He's sorting things out for me right now." Jou said, taking the proffered pen and paper and sitting at the small table as Maria got on with a few things. He first wrote a few lines and his signature for Maria's son, then he turned his attention to writing the note he intended to leave for Seto, going over the basics of what had happened and doing his best not to get over involved in explanations or over-emotional. Soon he was finished and he sealed the letter into the envelope, sticking the flap down just as the phone rang.

"Hello?" Maria said as she answered the call. "Yes, he's here. I'll pass you over." She looked at Jou. "It's for you."

"Thanks," Jou said, taking the handset. "Hey Yugi," Jou greeted his friend, listening intently as Yugi gave him instructions. "Thanks Yugi. See you later." He hung up and turned back to Maria. "Yugi's booked me a ticket back to Domino on the next train which leaves in just over half an hour, so I'd better get going, but before I do..." he passed Maria a piece of paper, "my autograph for your kid."

"Thank you Jonouchi. I really appreciate it." Maria said gratefully.

Jonouchi gave Maria a hug. "No, thank you. You've been a great help."

"That's OK luvvie, I'm just glad to be able to do my bit," she said with a smile as Jou let go. "I'll make sure that your letter is left where Mr. Kaiba can see it. I hope everything works out for you and, for what it's worth," she gave him one more hug, "Mr. Kaiba doesn't deserve you."

"Thanks Maria," Jou said, making to leave. "Look after yourself, OK?"

Maria watched Jonouchi leave, then gripped the envelope resolutely. Mr. Kaiba had better hope that he didn't come back while she was there or he was likely to feel the sharp end of her tongue, job be damned!

xo xo xo xo xo xo xo

"Mr. Kaiba? Mr. Kaiba?" Seto came to with the concerned voice of the secretary in his ears. "Have you been here all night Mr. Kaiba?"

Seto sat up suddenly, looking out of the window, shocked to see that the sun was already well up in the sky. "What time is it?" he demanded.

"It's nine fifteen sir," She replied.

"Shit!" Seto exclaimed, pulling his cellphone out and noting that it was switched off. He mentally face-palmed as he realised that he'd forgotten to turn it back on, having turned it off when he kept being interrupted by employees from Kaiba Corp in Domino who didn't seem to have got the memo about his being on vacation.

Not wanting to wait the few moments that it would take for the phone to power up, he practically ran across to the office phone, worried about what Jou must be thinking. He dialled the number that he'd memorised quickly, only to curse with frustration as it went straight through to answer-phone. He wouldn't be surprised if the battery on Jou's phone had died again as the handset was an older model and the battery was no longer as efficient as it had once been. He'd offered several times to buy Jou a new one, or even to give him one of his own cast offs, but Jou had always refused, saying that he'd never be able to explain just how he was able to afford it. He should have insisted anyway, explanations be damned! Sighing, he dialled the hotel, demanding to be put through to the penthouse suite, but he only ended up swearing again as no-one answered the call.

He turned to the secretary, who was watching him with concern. "Have my car brought around. I need to go back to the hotel. Now!" His tone left no room for discussion and the secretary dashed off to do his bidding. He gathered his files, shut them inside his briefcase, then he swept from the office – a man on a mission.

Fifteen minutes later found him entering the hotel room. "Jou?" He called out. "Katsuya, are you here?" He looked through the entire suite, not finding Jou anywhere, finally entering the bedroom, eyes alighting on the envelope on the bed. He picked it up, heart sinking. Had he managed to ruin everything? Had Jou finally had enough of waiting around and left him? He looked around the room, realising that particular explanation did not make sense as Jou's things were still here and his bag was still by the bed. Holding on to the envelope like a lifeline, he walked back out into the main room again, noting that Jou's key card was still on the side table and that his jacket was slung over the back of the large sofa. He was still unable to make sense of it all so he sat down and opened the letter, hoping to get some answers. His eyes widened in horror as he realised what his thoughtlessness had caused Jonouchi to go through.

_Dear Seto,_

_Well that was quite the vacation. I'm afraid that I've had to go home, but I thought I'd leave you a note to explain exactly why I've gone and why I had to leave my stuff behind._

_I can't tell you how much I was looking forward to spending the week with you, but the disappointment I felt when Kaiba Corp had to intrude even here was indescribable. As if that wasn't bad enough, just about everything has gone wrong since._

_I ended up getting locked out of the room. Clumsy of me, I know, so I decided to come over to Kaiba Corp. I guess I shouldn't be surprised, but I couldn't get in to see you. The receptionist wouldn't give me the time of day and when I asked her to give you a message – to turn on your cell phone – she accused me of being a stalker!_

_I left as I didn't fancy the chance of spending the night in a police cell, but oh, how I wish I had because just when I thought that things could not get any worse, there had been a shift change at the hotel and the front desk manager didn't believe that someone like me could possibly be staying in the penthouse suite. I was thrown out and I ended up spending the night outside on a bench. I guess I should thank my lucky stars that it was a reasonably warm night and that it didn't rain!_

_Luckily, this morning one of the maids recognised me and helped me out and I am SO grateful to her. I was able to call Yugi and he booked a train ticket for me to come home, also Maria supplied me with some paper so I could leave this note for you._

_I'm so sorry Seto, but I can't stay any longer. I have no idea when, or even if you are going to come back and with no way to contact you – well, I'm sure you understand._

_I will have to explain things to Yugi though, I owe him that much at least. I understand that you didn't really want anyone to know that we were together, but I do need to talk to someone. I can promise that Yugi won't say anything, so you can be sure that your reputation will remain intact._

_Never doubt my feelings for you Seto, but after everything that's happened in the last 24 hours, I'm not sure that I can do this any more._

_However, I would appreciate it if you could arrange for my stuff to be brought back. I know it isn't much, but it is mine and I can't really afford to replace it._

_Yours always,_

_Katsuya._

Seto stared unseeing at the paper for a long time. Jonouchi was gone, driven away. He'd really let him down spectacularly badly and he'd single handedly turned what should have been a relaxing holiday for them both into an unmitigated nightmare. And yes, he did blame himself, as if only he'd turned his damned phone off before they'd got here, then this would probably never have happened.

He looked at the letter again and wondered how Jou could have misunderstood how he felt about the publicity of their relationship, but then they hadn't really talked about it all that much and he'd assumed that Jou didn't want it public in case it caused trouble for him due to his background and past. Seto himself wasn't bothered; if anyone thought they could tell him who he could and could not see then they had another think coming. If only he'd thought to tell Jou that.

He stood with a determined look on his face. Pulling his phone out of his pocket, he arranged for the helicopter stationed on the roof of the local KC offices to be made ready for him immediately, then he left the suite and headed for his car. The first order of business would be to go and convince Jonouchi to come back, then he could deal with the idiots that had caused Jou so much grief later on.

As he left the room, a figure stood and watched him leave. Good, Maria thought, at least it didn't look like she would have to interfere. Just as well really; she did really like this job.

xo xo xo xo xo xo

A/N - Well, that's chapter 2 down, and yes, I made up a city name. I figure that if they can have a city called Domino, then they can have one called Solitaire as well. Or Backgammon. Or Chess. (Or Tiddlywinks. LOL)

Also, looking at chapter 4, which is the final chapter, I'm probably going to have to tone it down quite a lot. It's way too smutful for me to consider posting it here. ^_^''


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer:** I do not own YuGiOh!. That pleasure belongs to Kazuki Takahashi. This is solely written for fun and not for profit.

Thank you to everyone who reviewed, alerted and favourited. It really does mean a lot. ^^

xo xo xo xo xo xo xo

"Jou... Jonouchi..." Jou woke up to find Yugi standing next to him in the train carriage.

"Yugi?" He said, sitting up in shock. "Am I back in Domino already?"

"No," Yugi shook his head, "I came out part way to meet you. I was really worried, you sounded so upset."

Jou moved over to let Yugi sit next to him. "Ah, Yug', you're a real pal. What would I do without you?"

"Have to spend the night sleeping outside?" Yugi made a lucky guess. "You don't seem to have much with you for being all the way out there."

"Yeah, you're right," Jou sighed. "So... I guess you want an explanation, huh?"

"Jou," Yugi put his hand on his friend's arm, "you don't have to tell me anything. I'm sure that you have your own reasons for doing whatever you did, but don't feel obligated to give me an explanation just because I helped you out."

"Thanks Yug'" Jou appreciated that Yugi wasn't just demanding answers like his other friends would have done, "but I do need to tell someone what's been going on," he said.

"Is it something... bad?" Yugi was wide eyed, worried over what trouble his friend had got himself into.

"No, not really," Jou said. "It kind of depends on your point of view I guess." At Yugi's concerned look he decided that he had to bite the bullet. "Thing is Yug'... I like guys, OK?"

"You're gay?" Yugi said with even wider eyes, if such a thing were even possible. "But what about..."

"Mai?" Jou shook his head. "I only ever liked her as a friend." He gave Yugi a sad look, "I understand if you don't want to know me anymore."

"Oh Jonouchi," Yugi sighed, "I'll admit that I'm surprised, but it's not a problem." He gave Jou a funny look, "But what does that have to do with you being all the way out in Solitaire and needing a train back?"

"I've kinda been seeing someone for the last six months," Jou said.

"you have?" Yugi was confused and surprised. "Anyone we know?"

"Yeah..." Jou paused, giving Yugi a sidelong look before he answered. "I've... I'vebeenseeingSetoKaiba." The words came out in a rush, almost unintelligibly,

"I'm sorry Jou," Yugi said "I'm not sure I caught that. For a moment there I thought you said that you'd been seeing Kaiba..."

"I did say that," Jou confirmed, lightly blushing at the admission.

"Not that I'm complaining or anything," Yugi said, "but I thought you hated each other. You were even arguing just last week."

"Well, we had to keep up appearances," Jou explained. "If we'd suddenly stopped fighting it would have aroused suspicion."

"Well, I guess I can understand that much," Yugi said slowly, "but... I still don't get how you ended up all but abandoned."

"Yeah, abandoned. That about sums it up," Jou said bitterly. "Like I said, we'd been together about six months and... we'd decided that we wanted to spend some quality time together and take our relationship to the next level. Seto decided to book us a vacation." He sighed, "He booked us into the penthouse suite at the most fancy hotel. The place was amazing, but..." Jou tailed off.

"But?" Yugi prompted.

"Not five minutes after we got there he was called out to the local Kaiba Corp offices to deal with some issues. He promised he wouldn't be long, but I knew it wouldn't be five minutes, you know?"

"Well, I guess that the company is a big responsibility..." Yugi reasoned.

"Oh yeah, I understand that," Jou said. "I've done my share of waiting around for him and I'm kinda used to it. Can't help but be annoyed that it happened when we were supposed to be on vacation, but when you own the company I guess you are always on call."

"So, what went wrong?" Yugi prompted Jou again.

"I was stupid enough to get locked out of the room," Jou explained, "so I decided to head over to see Kaiba." He sighed and looked at his hands, "I got thrown out by security because no-one knows me there, then when I tried to call him on his cell phone, I found out that he'd turned it off and my phone died before I could leave him a message. I went back to the hotel to get the staff to let me back into the room, but there had been a shift change and the new desk manager decided that I was lying and that there was no way that someone like me would be staying at their hotel, let alone in the penthouse suite." He turned stricken eyes on his friend. "They threw me out, Yug'. I ended up staying on a bench near the hotel, hoping that Seto would come back, but he never did. It was only this morning when one of the maids recognised me that I was able to call you and arrange to come home."

"Oh Jou, I'm so sorry," Yugi said, giving his friend a hug, "but I doubt he left you in the lurch deliberately."

"I know," Jou said sadly, "But... I had no idea when he would come back and I had no way to contact him. I couldn't let the maid get into trouble for letting me back in the room and I couldn't face spending another night outside. I was lucky enough that it didn't rain and that no-one called the cops to move me on. I had no choice but to come home and really, I can't thank you enough, Yug'"

"You don't need to thank me," Yugi said, "I'm just glad you're safe, although I will admit I'm a little disappointed that you didn't feel that you could tell me about this before."

"I wasn't sure how you would take it and I was worried about damaging Seto's reputation." Jou smiled sadly, "After all, he didn't want people to know he was with someone like me."

"Are you sure about that?" Yugi asked. "Kaiba isn't the type of person to worry about what others think of him. Did you actually discuss it?"

"No, come to think of it, we never really did," Jou admitted. "But he never seemed to want to introduce me to anybody..."

"Well, if you assumed that he didn't want to acknowledge you because of his reputation, maybe he assumed that you might have problems due to your own situation."

Jou was totally pole-axed by that thought and he sat there open mouthed for several long moments as he started to get his brain around the idea that Seto might not be totally ashamed of him after all, but before he could say anything to Yugi, the tannoy crackled into life.

"We are now arriving at Domino Central station," the tinny voice said. "If you are leaving the train here, please make sure that you have all your personal belongings with you."

Jou openly scoffed at that. "Yeah, I would if they weren't all locked up back at the hotel."

"Come on, Jou," Yugi said, escorting his friend out of the carriage. "Come back to the game shop and we'll try and sort something out."

"Thanks Yug'" Jou said with obvious gratitude. Following his friend as he alighted from the carriage to the platform.

"So... what are you going to do now?" Yugi said as he guided his friend across to the taxi rank.

Jou shrugged. "Dunno. I haven't really thought that far ahead," he admitted. Yugi was about to speak again, when they were disturbed by a shout across the concourse.

"Jou!"

Jonouchi and Yugi turned at the sound, only to be confronted by the sight of Seto Kaiba running towards them.

"Seto?" Jou was so shocked he could hardly move.

"Jou," Seto panted as he reached the duo. "I'm so very sorry. Please forgive me."

Jou simply stared at Seto, almost unable to comprehend that the tall CEO was actually stood in front of him. "How... how did you get here before me?"

"I called for a helicopter as soon as I realised what had happened," Seto explained. "I... fell asleep on the couch in the office and didn't wake up until the secretary came in this morning. If I'd known..." he tailed off. "Please forgive me."

Jou carefully looked at Kaiba. He could see by the taller boy's demeanour that he was telling the truth, not to mention that his clothes were slightly rumpled from being slept in and he'd obviously been so desperate to get here that he hadn't even taken the time to change. That, coupled with the look of sincerity on Seto's face had him whispering "I forgive you," then he had the wind knocked out of him as Seto tackled him into a hug.

"I'm so sorry. I'll make sure that this can't happen again," Seto whispered into Jou's ear.

"you..." Jou was stunned, "You're not embarrassed to be seen with me?"

Seto pulled back and looked him in the eyes. "Why would I be?" He asked. "You're endearing, clever in your own way and the third ranked duelist in the world after Yugi and myself. Why on earth would I be embarrassed by you?"

"But... your company... your reputation," Jou spluttered in protest.

"Jou, my company should not be affected by who I choose to spend my life with and I could not care less what people think about me. I would have been more than happy to shout it from the rooftops, but I thought that you were the one that didn't want people to know."

"To be honest, Seto, I couldn't care less if people know or not either," he blushed. "I love you."

"I love you too," Seto leaned in and kissed Jou soundly, only to be brought around by the sound of a camera shutter and a smattering of applause.

"Yugi?" Jou looked at his friend who was innocently looking at his camera phone.

"Sorry Jou, Kaiba," He said with a smile, "that was too cute and the opportunity was way too good to pass up."

"Hmm, it would also seem that we've attracted quite an audience," Seto said, looking around at the people who had stopped to stare at the sight of the most eligible bachelor in Domino kissing another boy. "I think we should get out of here. What do you say, Jou? Will you come back with me? I still want to take the rest of our vacation, but only if you want to."

"Sure, I'd love to," Jou said with a smile, causing Seto to crush him into a hug again, "but can we drop Yugi off at the game shop first? It's the very least we could do after he helped me out like that."

"Of course," Seto said. "Come on." He grabbed Jou's hand and guided him out to the waiting car. Once they were all safely inside and on the move, Seto turned his attention to Yugi. "How much was that train ticket."

"Yugi was about to answer when Jou interrupted. "Seto, you don't have to pay for it. I said I would pay Yugi back and I meant it."

"But it was my fault," Seto said. "Paying Yugi back is the least I can do, especially as I consider this mess to be my responsibility."

"But..." Jou started to protest again, only for Seto to lean over and silence him with a kiss.

"Let me, please," Seto said.

"Fine," Jou subsided reluctantly as Seto pulled out his wallet and gave Yugi several bills.

"This is too much, Kaiba," Yugi said.

"You bought another ticket and went to meet him didn't you?" Seto pointed out.

"Well, yes, but it's still too much."

"Just take it please," Seto said as they pulled up outside the Game Shop, Yugi's grandpa coming out to meet them.

"OK," Yugi sighed. "So... congratulations," he said with a smile. "Enjoy the rest of your vacation." He opened the door to get out, only to be stopped as his Grandpa poked his head in.

"Congratulations Jonouchi, Kaiba," The old man said with a smile.

"What?" Jou looked confused. "How did you know?"

"It's all over the news," the old man said. "But I am glad that you finally admitted that you like each other."

"Looks like you are going to need that vacation," Yugi said with a smile as he finally got out of the car. Then, as he stood on the pavement, his phone began to ring. He answered it and listened for a moment. "Sorry Honda, they've just left me," he lied, giving Jou and Seto a pointed look.

"I think that's our cue to go," Jou said quietly, waving at Yugi, who was listening to Honda ranting down the phone. "See ya Gramps,"

"Yes, quite," the old man said. "Have a good time and don't rush back, OK?"

Seto nodded in response as Jou blushed, then he pulled the door closed and the car moved off again, this time towards Kaiba Corporation.

"Hey Seto," Jou said, "you know that Yugi will find a way to give you that money back, don't you?"

"Yes, I know," Seto said with a nod. "The challenge is in stopping him from doing so."

Jou stared at Seto incredulously for a moment, then smiled and shook his head. "You're impossible."

"But that's why you love me," Seto stated confidently.

"Arrogant prick," Jou said with a grin.

"You love that too," Seto pulled Jou to him.

"Yeah, you're right," Jou said, leaning in to kiss Seto deeply.

They were disturbed by the door of the car opening and they surfaced to find themselves at Kaiba Corp. They walked through the building to a chorus of whispers and covert glances. Jou flushed hotly under the scrutiny of the KC employees, but soon they were at Seto's private lift and on their way to the roof.

"Still with me?" Seto asked with some concern.

"Yeah," Jou said with an explosive exhalation of breath. "That was... quite intense."

"It won't last," Seto said reassuringly. "Everyone is going to want a piece of us for a while, but soon enough something else will grab their attention and we'll be left alone. This week away will help somewhat with that."

"Yeah, just gotta get through it I guess," Jou said, looking up as there was a ping and the doors opened, "and at least this way they'll probably get the message that you are supposed to be on vacation."

"I wouldn't count on it," Seto said wryly as they crossed the roof. "But rest assured that I will be incommunicado until at least the end of the week whether they like it or not."

They entered the waiting chopper and Jou clutched tightly to Seto's arm as they travelled back across the country to the roof of the branch office that Jou had been denied access to the previous day. Jou disembarked the aircraft with ill disguised relief, then followed Seto into the building.

Once in the office, Jou sat down on the couch and watched as Seto first reviewed the CCTV footage from the day before, then called for the receptionist that had had Jou thrown out. She came in quite sheepishly and apologetically having seen the news, but that did not stop Seto from giving her a good dressing down for her attitude. He fell short of sacking her at Jou's request, but he gave her a final warning and sent her for retraining.

Next, they travelled back to the hotel where Seto tore strips off the snotty desk manager and dealt smoothly with the conciliatory tone of the hotel manager who was terrified that Kaiba would simply up and leave under a cloud, thus tarnishing the hotel's reputation. Seto accepted the manager's apology on the provision that the maid that had helped Jonouchi got a commendation and a raise. The sweating man was more than happy to agree and the couple soon found themselves alone in the suite. As the door finally closed, Jou was shocked to find himself being embraced by a trembling Seto.

Jou wrapped his arms around the taller man. "What's wrong?" he asked in a worried tone.

"I thought I'd really lost you," Seto breathed into his neck. "I'm so sorry."

"Well, I'm still here," Jou replied gently. "I told you never to doubt my feelings for you."

"I know, but once I realised what my negligence had caused..."

Jou leaned back and placed a finger on Seto's lips, silencing him. "I already forgave you," he said. "and it's at least partly my fault for getting locked out in the first place, so let's not rehash it over and over, OK?" Jou's stomach then growled and he flushed.

"I'll call room service," Seto said, letting go of Jou and making to move over towards the phone, but he stopped as he saw Jou blanch slightly. "What is it?" he asked.

"Room service is where everything started going wrong yesterday," Jou said, then he shook his head. "But we said that we wouldn't re-hash it."

"No Jou," Seto said with concern. "I think I need to hear this. What happened?"

Jou sighed. "It's silly really."

"Let me be the judge of that," Seto said.

"Fine," Jou flopped down onto the sofa. "When I ordered room service yesterday, I wasn't aware that I needed to give a tip. That was really embarrassing."

Seto was taken aback. "But... I have strict instructions that no one is to receive a tip in person from me or anyone in my party. I have any gratuity added to the hotel bill at the end of my stay as I don't always have cash on me and it saves a lot of unpleasantness. Are you sure that you weren't mistaken?"

"Oh no, he definitely wanted a tip," Jou confirmed. "And he was pretty pissed at not getting one if the filthy look he gave me on the way out was anything to go by.

"Hmm... I'll have to deal with that," Seto said with a frown. "If they did it to you then what is to stop them doing it to someone else?" He then gave Jou a look. "But I suspect that there is more to this. Am I right?"

"Yeah, you are," Jou replied. "I'd... ordered rather a lot of food. Something I was glad of because it meant that I wouldn't have to be looked at like something that had just crawled in off the street again." He sighed, "But when I went to use the bathroom, someone came in and removed everything."

"That is not supposed to happen either," Seto observed with a frown. "You either call down when you have finished or they are supposed to ask you before taking anything away." From what Jou had told him so far, Seto wouldn't be surprised if someone had been waiting until he was indisposed before doing this for spite.

"I guessed as much," Jou said with another sigh, "so I left the room hoping to catch whoever it was to make them bring it back. That's when I got locked out."

"You know, I'm not sure I want to stay here any longer," Seto mused. "The more I hear, the worse it gets..."

"Can we stay here tonight at least?" Jou gave a pleading look to Seto. "I'm tired and hungry and I want a shower and clean clothes..."

Seto thought about it for a moment, but quickly came to the conclusion that his lover's needs came before anything else and Jou really did look tired. Besides, he had a plan. "Alright," he capitulated. "But I will call room service and they had better not step even slightly out of line or I will have them dealt with on the spot."

"I wouldn't expect anything less from you," Jou smiled as Seto made to place the call. Shortly, the plush softness of the expensive couch had him relaxing and dropping off into slumber.

"Jou... wake up Katsuya..." Seto's voice roused Jou into wakefulness.

"Oh, I didn't mean to fall asleep on you," Jou said, then he stretched and yawned. "Sorry."

"Don't apologise. You must have needed the rest if you dropped off like that," Seto said reasonably.

Jou sniffed, the aroma of food bringing him to full awareness. "Room service delivered already?" he asked.

"You've been out for about half an hour, so there has been ample time."

"Did they want a tip?" Jou asked.

"No," Seto looked satisfied. "The waiter was scared stiff when he realised just who he was delivering to and he went ever paler when he spotted you sleeping on the couch. His hands were shaking so much that I'm surprised that he didn't spill everything. However, I will still have him dealt with..."

"OK Seto, do as you see fit, but in the mean time," Jou put on his best puppy-dog look, "Can we eat now? I'm starved!"

Seto smiled and guided Jou into the dining room where they ate quickly. Once they were done with that, Jou showered and went to bed while Seto stayed up a little longer dealing with something on his laptop. Soon enough, he closed the machine down with a most satisfied look on his face, then he showered, joined Jou in bed and was shortly in the land of nod.

xo xo xo xo xo xo xo

**A/N** - Oho... I wonder what Seto has been up to?

It's going to be a little while for the next one. As I said before, I still need to tone it down a lot so I can post it here, but I'm right in the middle of NaNoWriMo so I can't spare a lot of time for it at the moment. I'll try to get it out fairly soon though. ^_^

**EDIT** (15 December) - I have changed the part where they go through KC to make it more appropriate and a little less weird.

Also I also don't know if I'll post chapter 4 on this site in any form, at least in the near future, as I'm feeling utterly daunted at the prospect of editing it at the moment. However, you can find it either on AFF, my Dreamwidth site or MediaMiner. See my profile for details.


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